Keys of Opportunity
Stars Aligned The Forest of Death. It was an experience that, most likely, many of those involved wouldn't be forgetting any time soon. In the end, maybe the exact circumstance of how the event played out was beyond what anyone had expected, but everyone would be lying if they had said it wasn't at all interesting. Ambrosus was one such individual. But even after the Forest of Death, his endeavors weren't quite over. Ambrosus twirled about as he continued his stride away from what remained of that twisted forest. The man, or what seemed like a man, was completely unbothered by everything in the world. A bliss and excitement flooded his being, every moment bringing him closer to where he dreamed to be. If only he could dream. His movements stopped, twirling his parasol with ease and opening it all in one. The two silver objects tied to the handle jingling in unison. Ambrosus looked back, fully absorbing the sight of the Magic Knights that escorted him. However, he focused more on a sole member. "Now that we're over that dreadful forest, it's time you and I make good on that deal isn't it?" A smile bleed through the fabric of his mouth. "You're not even giving me a break...jeez." A blonde man made himself known among the Knights. He told his junior officers to part away from the escorted individual. Mason Warren was the man's name. A Celestial Spirit Mage of considerable strength, among the Rune Knights and other Mages of his ilk, he was called the "Silver Star." "Normally I'd refrain from commenting positive things about someone like you." Mason paused, as he took a key out of the breastplates of his armor. "But, your persistence to obtain Caelum is pretty noteworthy." Mason then looked at Ambrosus. "So who will you be wagering in this contest of ours? We can only use one spirit." Ambrosus let out a chuckle or two, eyes closed as he knew if there was anything Mason had, it was honor. “Yes, well anyone who meets me has at least one good thing to say. I’m quite love able after all.” Ambrosus pulled a key from off his parasol, leaving the other still attached. “I’ll be wagering Lacaille. That way, at least one of us will have both the Sculptor & the Chisel.” Whipping the key about, it seemed Ambrosus had a theme in mind when he challenged Mason for Caelum and Caelum alone. “Although I must ask a serious question, and this must be on your mage’s honor.” Ambrosus closed his parasol, twirling it about so the remaining key was plain in Mason’s sight. “Do you believe this is a good place to keep my keys? I mean there’s just so many places you can keep them after all.” "...You're merely asking to lose them." Mason responded to Ambrosus' comment. Subsequently, he displayed surprise by Ambrosus' desire to possess the sculptor and chisel. "You..." Mason decided to keep quiet. There was no need to expose the secrets of Celestial Spirit Mages to others. "Anyways, let's not waste any more time." Mason spoke, as he outstretched his arm with the key of the wagered Celestial Spirit in his hand. "Open, gate of The Chisel...Caelum!" A magical sigil appeared from the tip of the key, as Mason brought it downwards. In an instant, a an unusual being appeared. It was an entity made completely from an unknown metal, but its shape was in a suit of armor. The knight was complete, with armor for every part of its body, including its head. Yet it possessed no body. This armor was joined together, but what remained underneath it was completely hollow, as if it were merely a statue. The last time Caelum appeared in history, it was wielded by a woman who gave it the role of servitude. Its master following that also possessed a similar ideology for Caelum when it had seen the spirit in action, so its appearance remained the same. Mason sees Celestial Spirits as invaluable allies and fellow knights. To him, Caelum, a spirit that could wield both a blade and a bow, was no doubt the epitome definition of a knight. Although the spirit stood silent, its vigilance was unsurpassed. Even the flippant Ambrosus should have been moderately surprised by its appearance. "Oh my!" Ambrosus spoke, taken aback by not just Mason speaking on his key placements, but also the appearance he had granted Caelum dude to his ideals. "You have quite a theme don't you?" Ambrosus spoke. "I'll be reorganizing my keys later then, thank you for your input." Ambrosus smiled. Yet it was more condescending than anything. "But yes, may this battle of ours begin!" Ambrosus spoke, he did a little spin as he prepared for the battle. Magic flowed from every part of his body, coming together in his right hand where he held the key. Ambrosus always loved the thrill of magic and power that surged his body when summoning a spirit, especially when it involved him possibly gaining a new one to his repertoire. He gracefully and swiftly brought the key to the ground. A magical sigil materialized beneath Ambrosus as a golden light radiated from the key. Ambrosus shot Mason a wink through the blinding light, "Don't hold your breath Baby Blues." He teased. "Open, Gate of The Sculptor, Lacaille!" The golden lights ceased as the sigil beneath Ambrosus faded. Standing before Ambrosus, what appeared to be a rather young man stood, stroking his face. A bright smile was on his face. His hair was a dark green, yet as it reached the thorn-like tip, it's colors brightened. His ears were long and pointy, almost elf like. He had rather long nails, which for whatever reason, had been a dark purple in hue. His clothing wasn't the most fashion forward, but if you asked, Lacaille would simply claim them a fashion statement. "Can I go first, Ambro-san?" Lacaille knew Ambrosus wouldn't mind, but he would ask regardless. Even then, he'd spring into action with no response. Lacaille threw up his hands, forming a box with them as he examined the area before him. One of his eyes were closed as he stuck his tongue out. "This'll do just fine!" Suddenly, he withdrew his hands, using his right to seemingly cut the air before him. A golden-brown energy followed the movements of his finger. He suddenly threw both of his hands on the ground, bending down to fully complete his magic circle. "Earth-Make, Arles Amphitheatre!" Pillars of earth arose around the Celestial Spirit Mages and their spirits. A miniature coliseum, or their true names, amphitheatre, surrounded the four of them. Lacaille was a sculptor of all things, making art of stone was just his forte. A gorgeous amphitheatre brought itself to life. It wasn't the largest, after all, Lacaille didn't have enough Magic Power to form anything too large. But this was merely his set-up. In the Arles Amphitheatre, Lacaille viewed himself as indomitable. "You go next, Caelum! That way we can be together, and with my trusty chisel, we'll form the greatest pieces of art the Human and Spirit World will ever see!" Lacaille shouted, excited for whatever would become of this battle. Or what he truly believed, excited for Ambrosus to claim Caelum's key as his own. "A coliseum..." Mason spoke, his eyes scanning the coliseum around them. Ambrosus had conveniently excluded the other Rune Knights in the area. Whether that was intentional or not, he had no way of knowing. Nonetheless, Caelum looked towards Mason for confirmation. Mason merely nodded. The bond between the two knights was stronger than steel, and this was proven by their non-verbal communication. "As per your wishes, Caelum, I will not participate in this battle with my own sword." Caelum responded accordingly, and from his palm, a large broadsword materialized. He firmly gripped it in his arm, and had his eyes peeled onto Lacaille. As usual, he could not say anything, but Mason understood his words and spoke for him. "Caelum wishes to express his gratitude for an arena like this." Caelum began to move forward with blade in hand, "But he also wishes to apologize. In a small space like this, Caelum can only display his swordsmanship. He hopes that will suffice for you." As Mason finished speaking, Caelum sprung forward with all of his speed. He intended to make the first move, and did so quickly. It only took him a couple of steps to reach Lacaille, and his immediate intent was to swing his blade along Lacaille's torso diagonally, beginning from the boy's left shoulder and ending at the right side of his waist. But Caelum would not finish there. Caelum was a being without organic limits. Therefore, the feats he was capable of when given a body like this were beyond your average swordsman. Although he used both arms for the swing, he had already prepared a follow-up if the first didn't connect. He enabled the sword to remain in his right arm, and using his non-existent joints, managed to raise his arm from the ground to behind his back, and brought down another slash intended to slice through Lacaille's right shoulder, hoping to remove his access to Earth-Make immediately. Lacaille couldn't help but smile as Caelum seemingly complimented his arena. However, as the size was questioned, he wasn't despaired. Simply taking such thing into account for later battles. Every artist needs a critique. "Thanks for the compliment! I'm so glad you like it, but this arena of mine has more than beauty to it's name." Lacaille spoke, speckles of magic fading away from a few areas around the arena. Caelum's charge was all Lacaille could think about soon after. Both spirits were crafted for combat, so more than anything, this battle would be a test of the bonds and power the spirits had with their respective mages. Lacaille quickly clasped his hands together before his stomach, running to meet Caelum half way. However Caelum had already covered more ground, gaining more momentum than Lacaille had. Magic collected in the Spirits hand however, and as he swiftly threw them up, forming a box yet again. Leaning back as a magic circle appeared directly below Lacaille. However, the attempt to stop himself all at once caused his legs to carry him forward, even though he attempted to fall back. This caused Lacaille to slip, falling into the ground. However something else seemed to rise up. Mid-way to the ground, right before Caelum's blade would connect, the object would catch Lacaille within it's body. The two panels to it's side came together to it's center, sealing Lacaille within. Caelum would find his sword scrapping against pure stone. However, the stone was in the form of a sarcophagus. Even after catching Lacaille, it continued to move upward. Following the first slash Caelum issued against it's body, the sarcophagus was at it's full height, roughly three inches taller that Lacaille himself. By the time Caelum came in for his second slash, the sarcophagus would begin to lean forward, aiming to ram it's stone body against Caelum's body of steel. It was a minor defense mechanism, as Lacaille needed time for his Arles Amphitheatre to truly set itself up. Caelum found that its blade missed its target. He was pushed back from the force of the sarcophagus, but it did not take him a long time to reorient himself. Mason could feel the movement of magical energy in the coliseum, and Caelum would feel the same thing. Without delay, Caelum charged his blade with magical energy provided by Mason, and intended to slash through the sarcophagus from top to bottom, forcing Lacaille to escape. In the middle of his slash, right at the center of the sarcophagus, Caelum paused his slash, before thrusting forward with a powerful lunge motion in order to push both Lacaille and the sarcophagus backwards, hoping to pin down his enemy for good. Caelum would do just as he planned, the blade managed to cleave through the thick stone that constructed the sarcophagus. Although he would likely find it a struggle on first contact, there was no doubt the combination of brute power and the magic-infused sword could complete the task of dividing the sarcophagus. As it's body feel into two, a clean cut down it's middle, Caelum's thrust penetrated into the sarcophagus's body. And the force was undoubtedly enough to send something flying from the other end. Lacaille was rocketed from his sacrophagus. His body slammed against the rim of the Amphitheatre that divided the inner-stadium from the crowd. The impact caused the Spirit to momentarily gasp, however he gathered himself with ease. The little spike at the tip of his head twitched, Lacaille smiling as it did so. "IT'S READY AMBRO-SAN!" He turned to Caelum, once again putting his hands up to form a box, but from Lacaille's perspective, Caelum was dead in the middle of it. "Get ready, Caelum! Here comes Arles Amphitheatre; Phase 1!" Almost as if on cue, the arena began to change. Cracks formed in the flooring, starting from the rim and reaching into the center. As all the cracks meet in the center, portions of the arena started to crumble, falling away into the ground beneath the arena. Caelum would be unlucky enough to have been standing on one of the portions where the ground would cave in, forcing him to move as soon as possible to avoid what was beneath. A quick look down would reveal the numerous jagged-spikes beneath that would impale anyone unfortunate enough to fall into the gullet of the arena. The new form the arena had taken placed Caelum at a disadvantage. He'd have to transverse numerous platforms to reach Lacaille, and with each jump he would be leaving himself open and limited in movement. And this was nowhere near the pinnacle of the Arles Amphitheatre, or the many spells in Lacaille's arsenal. A deadly form of art, that was Lacaille's Earth-Make. "Caelum...!" Mason spoke in a staggered tone out of concern for his Knight. Before any ill would befall the spirit, he seemed to charge himself with magical power. As the flooring fell, Lacaille found that Caelum had levitated in the sky. It was an ability his original form possessed, and this form did not compromise any of his functions. Once he found that Caelum was safe, Mason breathed a sigh of relief. But to think that the coliseum had another phase to it...and judging from what Lacaille said, it had more than one. "I will take command of this battle, Caelum." Mason said in a commanding tone. He looked towards the arena and took in the sight for a moment. But a smirk was drawn on his face as Caelum changed his armament. His blade glowed a bright blue and transformed into a crossbow that was situated on his arm, with a magical arrow already on its holster. "Caelum no longer needs to move in order to attack you. I hope you're prepared." Mason's own magical energy charged along with Caelum's. They were in complete sync, and at the moment Mason outstretched his hands, Caelum fired his arrows towards Lacaille. He fired three in quick succession, each attempting to trap him from a different angle. One on the left, right, and one directly in the center. All the while, Mason looked towards Lacaille and the arena, acting as Caelum's eyes. Lacaille seemed to grit his teeth slightly, "Stop being annoying! Just give up so you can get a mage that's actually worthy of you Caelum!" Lacaille shouted, forming a box with his hands yet again. "EARTH-MAKE: MOTHER MEDEA!" The ground trembled, and almost in an instant, a gargantuan statue of a woman appeared behind Lacaille. She bore a total of four arms, one of which held a gigantic spear. Two of her arms went down to shield Lacaille from the arrows coming from his sides. A third came down and crushed the arrow coming from his front, giving the illusion that she had also been using that arm to balance herself for what was the come next. "That's something, I must agree. However-" Ambrosus suddenly spoke, standing up on a seat. One would note that, much like Lacaille, Ambrosus also held up a box with his hands. "Lacaille tells me he does this because it helps his concentration. Isn't that interesting?" Ambrosus noted, winking towards Mason. "You must believe you and Caelum have a better connection than Lacaille and myself? Think of the bond between yourself and Caelum as this box here. You put in such effort to make it show, mimicking everything the other days, feeling one another, almost as if you were one. It's extravagant yes, but only for as long as that box exist." Ambrosus spoke, he threw his hands down. The man would grip his umbrella tightly, leaning back to the point his head no longer looked upon the battle. "The bond between me and my spirits are much more powerful, even without that box. I asked you earlier about the location of my keys, to which you replied I had only been asking to have them robbed." Ambrosus seemed to take the other key attached to his umbrella and wave it in the air, almost as if taunting. "But truth is, I'm not concerned. You may ask why, and if not, I was going to tell you anyway. Both, Lacaille and Circinus, have been my companions for as long as I can remember. We've gone through hardships, failures, anything your human mind can imagine, and they haven't left me once. It's because our bond persist between worlds. If either were to be removed from my side, they'd summon themselves in an instant and return to me. Our bond is more than battle. And that, my friend, is why you'll never defeat us." Ambrosus leaned up, locking eyes with Mason from across the stadium. Lacaille smirked at Caelum through the empty space of Mother Medea's arms. As he pulled his arm back, the statue seemed to mimic his motions. The hand wielding the spear begun to reel backwards, preparing to launch it at Caelum with full force. "Don't you wanna be apart of a family like this, Caelum? Leave that Rune Knight and join us! It'll be a blast!" As Lacaille threw his arms forward, the statue mimicked. The spear was thrown forward with dauntless speed and power. It cut through the air with ease, trained on the center of Caelum's body. "Don't make me laugh." Mason smirked, as Caelum's body surged with magical power. His sword materialized once more, and he launched himself forwards, slicing the earthen spear into pieces. "I am not making a show of my bond with Caelum. His power as a Knight was stemmed from fighting alongside me." Mason looked towards Ambrosus in the eye. Before Mason spoke any more words, Caelum's magical power surged even more, and suddenly, something beyond the norm happened. Both of Caelum's arms had employed weapons; a crossbow on his left, a sword on his right. Exerting the maximum amount of power available to him, Caelum refused to hold back against an opponent of Lacaille's inventiveness any longer. "I see." Mason spoke in response to Caelum's actions, "Very well. Fight with all your might, Caelum. I will support you." Caelum, in his flight, charged forward. With every inch he closed in, the knight continued to barrage Lacaille with the arrows from his crossbow. While distracted, Caelum seized the opportunity to launch himself to the statue of Mother Medea, intending to slice through the statue's head and have it collapse onto Lacaille's body, all the while distracting his concentration through his artillery. Supernova Ambrosus produced a malicious glare, almost as if finding amusement in Mason's words. "Fighting alongside you? Oh, Mason my boy, you're quite the charmer. You keep Caelum behind that metal fence you call a breastplate, only summoning him for battle. Call it what you want, but from what I can tell, you treat Caelum as nothing more than a dog, a pet. And when you're tired of him, you lock him back up in that cage. You're skilled enough to fool others, but someone like me, I see right through even the slightest of demeanor." Ambrosus seemed to sketch something in the sky with his hands, still failing to look directly at the battle below. "WOAH! THAT'S SO COOL CAELUM!" Lacaille shouted, analyzing the battlefield in an instant. His thorn-like hair spike twitching with excitement. Like sculpting an art piece, Lacaille knew every inch and every corner, fully prepared on how to tackle the task. Instead of remaining stationary and standing his ground, Lacaille evaded the first wave of arrows, leaping onto the face of Mother Medea. Gripping onto the rough structure of her eyes as he stood onto her nose. Lacaille took no time between this action and leaping towards Caelum, yet he also formed a tacky shield on his right arm as he proceeded, using it to shield against some of the rapid fire caused by Caelum. This shield was a product of one-handed casting, meaning while the casting time was shorter and easier, the product was more unstable and weaker than a two-handed counterpart. Lacaille hadn't intended for his shield to hold out long. Caelum was proceeding much faster than Lacaille had, so he merely waited for Caelum to cover more of the range, standing between the spirit and the statue he aimed to cut down. Once Caelum was close enough, Lacaille would maneuver his body, gripping Caelum by his right hand in order to seize his sword, pressing it against his back. Using this position, Lacaille would ram Caelum into the face of Mother Medea instead of allowing Caelum to sever it. The impact would hopefully render Caelum injured, with the momentum it carried causing greater pain. And suggesting the impact against the statue was enough to stun Caelum momentarily, Lacaille would follow up swiftly by throwing Caelum against the ground with full force, launching Caelum into the spike-filled crevices below.